Cutting knife with inserts and method of manufacture thereof
A knife assembly includes a knife plate with a leading edge, and a cutting element cemented to the leading edge via a brazing process. The knife plate is heat-treated after the cutting element is cemented to the leading edge so as to form a heat-treatment area on the leading edge. Also disclosed is a method of manufacturing a knife assembly including, forming a leading edge on a side of a knife plate, forming a slot in the leading edge, inserting, into the slot, an insert, brazing the insert to the knife plate after the insert is inserted into the slot, and heat-treating at least a portion of the knife plate after the brazing.
1 . A knife assembly comprising:
a knife plate including a leading edge; and
a cutting element cemented to said leading edge with brazing material via brazing, wherein said knife plate is heat-treated after said cutting element is cemented to said leading edge so as to form a heat-treatment area on the leading edge.
2 . The knife assembly of claim 1 , wherein a hardness of said heat-treatment area is substantially unaffected by the brazing.
3 . The knife assembly of claim 1 , wherein said knife plate comprises steel.
4 . The knife assembly of claim 1 , wherein said knife plate includes at least one mounting hole.
5 . The knife assembly of claim 1 , wherein said brazing material is substantially unaffected by a temperature required for heat-treating said knife plate.
6 . The knife assembly of claim 1 , wherein said brazing material has a melting point higher than a temperature used for heat-treating said knife plate.
7 . The knife assembly of claim 1 , wherein said leading edge includes a plurality of cutting elements cemented thereto.
8 . The knife assembly of claim 7 , wherein said cutting elements are wedge shaped.
9 . The knife assembly of claim 7 , wherein said cutting elements comprise tungsten carbide.
10 . The knife assembly of claim 1 , wherein said leading edge is sharpened in a repeating pattern.
11 . The knife assembly of claim 10 , wherein said repeating pattern includes a repeated pattern length.
12 . The knife assembly of claim 11 , wherein said leading edge further includes slots.
13 . The knife assembly of claim 12 , wherein said slots include a slot front face, a slot rear face, and a slot back face.
14 . The knife assembly of claim 13 , wherein said slot front face and said slot rear face are parallel to each other.
15 . The knife assembly of claim 13 , wherein said repeating pattern includes a leading corner.
16 . The knife assembly of claim 15 , wherein said slot front face is adjacent to said leading corner.
17 . The knife assembly of claim 12 , wherein said slots define a slot length.
18 . The knife assembly of claim 17 , wherein said slot length is shorter than said pattern length.
19 . The knife assembly of claim 1 , wherein said leading edge includes a plurality of slots.
20 . The knife assembly of claim 19 , wherein said slots have front, rear, and back faces.
21 . The knife assembly of claim 20 , wherein said cutting elements are cemented to each of said front, rear, and back faces of said slot.
22 . The knife assembly of claim 1 , wherein said leading edge is configured in a convex shape.
23 . The knife assembly of claim 1 , wherein said leading edge is configured in a concave shape.
24 . The knife assembly of claim 1 , wherein said brazing is high temperature brazing.
25 . The knife assembly of claim 24 , wherein the brazing material has a melting temperature at least 75° F. higher than the temperature at which the brazing occurs.
26 . A knife assembly comprising:
a knife plate including a leading edge; and
a cutting element cemented to said leading edge via high temperature brazing.
27 . The knife assembly according to claim 26 , wherein said knife plate is heat-treated, after said cutting element is cemented to said leading edge.
28 . The knife assembly according to claim 27 , wherein a surface of said leading edge in close proximity to said cutting element is harder than an interior of said leading edge also in close proximity to said cutting element.
29 . The knife assembly according to claim 26 , wherein said leading edge is sharpened into a shape with a repeating pattern.
30 . The knife assembly according to claim 29 , wherein said repeating pattern defines a pattern length.
31 . The knife assembly according to claim 30 , wherein said leading edge further includes slots.
32 . The knife assembly according to claim 31 , wherein said slots define a slot length.
33 . The knife assembly according to claim 32 , wherein said slot length is shorter than said pattern length.
34 . An auger assembly comprising:
an auger; and
a knife assembly according to claim 26 , wherein said knife assembly is coupled to said auger.
35 . A method of manufacturing a knife assembly comprising:
forming a leading edge on a side of a knife plate comprising a first material;
forming a slot in the leading edge;
inserting, into the slot, an insert comprising a second material different from the first material;
brazing the insert to the knife plate with a brazing material after the insert is inserted into the slot; and
heat-treating at least a portion of the knife plate after the brazing.
36 . The method of manufacturing a knife assembly according to claim 35 , wherein the heat-treating occurs at a temperature below a melting point of the brazing material.
37 . The method of manufacturing a knife assembly according to claim 36 , wherein the heat-treating occurs at a temperature at least 75° below the melting point of the brazing material.
38 . The method of manufacturing a knife assembly according to claim 37 , wherein the brazing occurs at a temperature of at least 1615° F.
39 . The method of manufacturing a knife assembly according to claim 35 , wherein the heat-treating hardens a surface of the leading edge.
40 . The method of manufacturing a knife assembly according to claim 35 , wherein forming a leading edge includes sharpening the leading edge to create a repeating pattern.
41 . The method of manufacturing a knife assembly according to claim 40 , wherein the sharpening includes forming a cutting edge on the leading edge in substantially the same plane as a cutting edge on the insert.
42 . The method of manufacturing a knife assembly according to claim 35 , wherein forming a slot includes forming a plurality of slots, and inserting an insert includes inserting a plurality of inserts.
43 . The method of manufacturing a knife assembly according to claim 35 , further comprising forming through-holes in the knife plate.
44 . The method of manufacturing a knife assembly according to claim 35 , wherein the insert is at least partially abutted on at least three faces by the slot.
45 . The method of manufacturing a knife assembly according to claim 35 , wherein a hardness of the portion of the knife plate after heat-treating is different from a hardness of the portion of the knife plate before the heat-treating.